Can’t Get No Satisfaction

Today we’re introducing you to David Rupert who blogs at Red Letter Believers, where this post appeared recently under the title, Can’t Find Satisfaction at Work? You’re Right on Track.

Last week, I opened up the book of Ecclesiastes and read the yearnings of Solomon. A man on the outside that looks like he had it all. But really, he was a sorry sap, a man looking for satisfaction in all the wrong things.

“Vanity of Vanities,” he wrote.

“So I hated life, because the work that is done under the sun was grievous to me. All of it is meaningless, a chasing after the wind. What does a man get for all the toil and anxious striving with which he labors under the sun? All his days his work is pain and grief; even at night his mind does not rest. This too is meaningless.”

As I pulled my pants on this morning and buttoned my shirt, I have to admit that some similar thoughts ran through my head. Does it really matter what I do? Am I making a difference? Isn’t it true that if I were to leave, then 100 would be ready to step in my place — many of them better suited for the work?

Maybe Solomon was right. What do we get for all the toil and anxious striving? In today’s age, when the pay doesn’t go up but the workload is increasing not just in percentages, but exponentially as company’s continue to make do without hiring. Sure I get a paycheck at the end of two weeks, but that just makes me a hireling — a man who will do anything for money.

But I know better.

I enjoy what I do. Like a beaming third grader, I do my work well so the boss will be happy. I want the company to succeed, even prosper and do my part to make it function. I like my coworkers and anticipate my time with them.

However, I am not a person who finds his satisfaction in his work alone. I cannot put my trust in my labor, hoping that it satisfies the ache in my soul. 

If I do, I’ll be found wanting in the end. That was Solomon’s quest, his fruitless pursuit.

“There is a God-shaped hole,” Pascal wrote. And that hole cannot be filled by anything less than a relationship with Jesus. My job, profession, or occupation will never fill it. That’s why work can feel so hollow at times. It was supposed to be like this.

So when I get frustrated today, it will be a reminder of where my passions should be. Sorry boss, but it’s not in my office. I’ve my eyes focused on distant fields.

Does your work satisfy you? Does it fulfill you? Or is there something missing? Comment here. 

Related articles, Looking for God in all the wrong places

~David Rupert

• Take this to the next level with these thoughts by Jeff Lyle who blogs at Transforming Truth, with this piece, Success That Endures.